An anonymous call to the Coast Guard on Tuesday led crews to 43 bales of marijuana bobbing off California’s Santa Catalina Island.
Now in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, authorities pegged the street value of the cannabis catch at more than $1 million.
Officials told Navy Times that they don’t know why 1,300 pounds of pot entered the water, but a Coast Guard Los Angeles-Long Beach 45-foot Response Boat Medium crew from San Pedro and a Baywatch Isthmus boat team retrieved it.
“The case is still under investigation,” said Coast Guard spokesman Public Affairs Specialist 3rd Class Aidan Cooney.
Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and the Coast Guard Investigative Service are working together to figure it out, authorities in California added.
“We appreciate the assistance provided by our partners and vigilant mariners in keeping these drugs off of our streets,” said Coast Guard Lt. Andrew L. Fox, the Los Angeles-Long Beach commanding officer, in a prepared statement emailed to Navy Times.
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